Apparatus and Method for Increasing Accuracy of Location Determination of Mobile Devices Within a Location-Based Group

ABSTRACT

A method of increasing accuracy of location determination of mobile devices within a location-based subgroup starts with processor receiving location data and proximity information from each of the mobile devices. Location data received from first mobile device includes first mobile device&#39;s fixed location. Proximity information received from first mobile device includes an identification of mobile devices within a proximity sensitivity radius of first mobile device&#39;s location. Selecting at least one mobile device that has provided proximity information that identifies first mobile device as being within the proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selected at least one mobile device. Processor refining fixed location of first mobile device to generate refined location of first mobile device by identifying an intersection of proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selected at least one mobile device. Other embodiments are described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/023,225 filed Sep. 10, 2013 which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/842,344 filed Jul. 2, 2013. TheU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/023,225 and U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/842,344 are specifically incorporated herein, intheir entirety, by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to an apparatus and methodof increasing the accuracy of determining the location of mobile deviceswithin a location-based group.

BACKGROUND

Currently, smart mobile phones and other mobile devices include mappingapplications that may be used to show the user of the mobile device hiscurrent location on the mobile device's display. These applications mayalso be used to navigate the user to a destination based on his currentlocation to a given destination. In some applications, the user'slocation is tracked and onscreen and audio directions are provided tothe user.

However, the functionality of these mapping applications suffers whenthe user's location cannot be fixed accurately using sensors, WiFi andGPS. For instance, the display of the user's location which cannot beaccurately fixed may jump from one location to the next (e.g., rapidphantom jumps) as the user moves. In order for the display of the user'slocation as he moves to appear as a smooth linear location change, amore accurate location fixing and tracking of the mobile device isneeded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example andnot by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings inwhich like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted thatreferences to “an” or “one” embodiment of the invention in thisdisclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean atleast one. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art system for tracking the location ofmobile devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates the displayed location of the mobile device using theprior art system for tracking the location of mobile devices.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system for increasing accuracy of a locationdetermination of mobile devices within a location-based subgroupaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates the details of the system for increasing accuracy ofa location determination of mobile devices within a location-basedsubgroup according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5A illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for increasingaccuracy of a location determination of mobile devices within alocation-based subgroup according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5B illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for refining thelocation of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5C illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for refining thelocation of a mobile device according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary components of a server in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knowncircuits, structures, and techniques have not been shown to avoidobscuring the understanding of this description.

In the description, certain terminology is used to describe features ofthe invention. For example, in certain situations, the terms“component,” “unit,” “module,” and “logic” are representative ofhardware and/or software configured to perform one or more functions.For instance, examples of “hardware” include, but are not limited orrestricted to an integrated circuit such as a processor (e.g., a digitalsignal processor, microprocessor, application specific integratedcircuit, a micro-controller, etc.). Of course, the hardware may bealternatively implemented as a finite state machine or evencombinatorial logic. An example of “software” includes executable codein the form of an application, an applet, a routine or even a series ofinstructions. The software may be stored in any type of machine-readablemedium.

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art system for tracking the location ofmobile devices. The system 100 illustrates a mobile device 101 beingtracked which may be portable computers such as laptop, notebook,tablet, and handheld computers or may also take the form of other typesof devices, such as mobile telephones, media players, personal dataorganizers, handheld game platforms, cameras, and/or combinations ofsuch devices. The tracking server 107 included in the system 100 linksto the registered mobile device 101 over a network 106 (e.g., CloudNetwork or Internet) to collect and transfer location data.Specifically, the server 117 requests location data from the mobiledevice 101 in order to display the location of the mobile device 101 onthe display device 108. The mobile device 101 may extract its locationdata upon receiving the request from the server 107 by using itsinternal sensors and radios and by connecting to the Global PositioningSystem (GPS) 105. The mobile device 101 may also extract its locationdata by using its internal sensors and radios and by triangulation usingthe Wireless (WiFi) towers 102 ₁, 102 ₂ and/or WiFi base station 104.The location data from mobile device 101 is generated and transmitted tothe tracking server 107 over the network 106.

FIG. 2 illustrates a displayed location of the mobile device 101 usingthe prior art system for tracking the location of mobile devices. Thedisplay 200 on a display device 108 includes a representation a map withmajor roads 201, minor roads 202 and buildings 203 ₁-203 _(j) (j>2). Themap also includes the location 210 of the mobile device 101. In thisprior system 100, the location 210 is not accurate but rather it islocated within the location fixing accuracy of the mobile device'ssensor and may further be affected by the reflections from the mobiledevice 101's surroundings. FIG. 2 illustrates the sensor sensitivity orsensor accuracy limit 211 of the mobile device 101. The possible errorin the location of mobile device 101 can be as much as the area withinthe sensor error radius 212. Accordingly, actual location of the mobiledevice 101 may be anywhere within the area having an error radius 212.Therefore, even when the mobile device 101 is within the building 203 ₁as shown in FIG. 2, the location of the mobile device 101 can be shownon display device 108 as being outside of the building 203 ₁. Similarly,it may be difficult to judge the location of the device 101 since bothbuildings 203 ₁ and 203 _(j) fall within the error radius 212 of thesensitivity of the sensor included in mobile device 101.

Accordingly, it may be useful to have a method and system that canprovide a much more accurate location determining capability by refiningthe identified location for many of the current and future applicationssuch as Geo-Fencing.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system for increasing accuracy of a locationdetermination of mobile devices within a location-based subgroupaccording to an embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 3, the system 300includes the plurality of mobile devices 301 ₁-301 _(m)(m>1), and 302₁-302 _(p) (p>1). The mobile devices may be combined in groups that areexplicitly registered and linked with a server 307 that tracks thelocation of the mobile devices. The mobile devices 301 ₁-301 _(m) (m>1)may form a first explicit group and the mobile devices 302 ₁-302 _(p)(p>1) may form a second explicit group. In one embodiment, the firstexplicit group may include the mobile devices 301 ₁-301 _(m) that aremembers of a social networking group and that are being tracked by theirlocation. For instance, the membership to these social networks includeregistration with one or more central servers as part of explicitgroups, such as family group, friends group, extended family and friendsgroup, sport and club groups etc. Moreover, the combinations of thefirst and second explicit groups may also form implicit groups of mobiledevices that have common properties but are not linked by an explicitregistration for tracking. For instance, implicit groups include allregistered devices, all members of a club, etc.

Similar to FIG. 1, the tracking server 307 included in the system 300also links to each of the registered mobile devices over a network 106(e.g., Internet, Cloud Network) to collect and transfer location dataand proximity information. Specifically, the server 307 may requestlocation data and the proximity information from each of the mobiledevices 101, 301 ₁-301 _(m), and 302 ₁-302 _(p). For instance, thelocation data received from a first mobile device 101 includes a fixedlocation of the first mobile device 101. The mobile devices 101, 301₁-301 _(m), and 302 ₁-302 _(p) may extract their location data,respectively, upon receiving the request from the server 307 by usingits internal sensors and radios and by connecting to the GlobalPositioning System (GPS) 105. The mobile devices 101 301 ₁-301 _(m), and302 ₁-302 _(p) may also extract their location data, respectively, byusing its internal sensors and radios and by triangulation using theWireless (WiFi) towers 102 ₁, 102 ₂ and/or WiFi base station 104.Moreover, the proximity information received from the first mobiledevice 101 may include an identification of mobile devices that arewithin a proximity sensitivity radius of the first mobile device 101.Referring to FIG. 4, which illustrates the details of the system 300 forincreasing accuracy of a location determination of mobile devices withina location-based subgroup according to one embodiment of the invention,the first mobile device 101 has a proximity sensitivity radius of 406such that the proximity information received by the server 307 from thefirst mobile device 101 may include an identification of the proximatemobile devices being mobile devices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fixed location of mobile device 101 is withinthe first device's 101 sensor accuracy limit 211 which has a proximitysensor sensitivity radius (or error radius) 406. Similarly, the fixedlocation of mobile device 301 ₆ is within its sensor accuracy limit 402,mobile device 302 ₅ is within its sensor accuracy limit 403 and mobiledevice 302 ₆ is within sensor accuracy limit 404. In some embodiments,the server 307 may perform a proximity check which includes assessingthe proximity information from each of the mobile devices 101, 301 ₆,302 ₅, and 302 ₆ to determine and confirm that each of the mobiledevices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ are proximate in location to the firstmobile device 101. For instance, the server 307 may check that firstmobile device 101 is identified in the proximate information from themobile devices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ which indicates that mobiledevice 101 is within the proximity sensor sensitivity radius of each ofthe mobile devices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆. If the four devices arefound to be in the proximity of each other using the proximity check,these devices can be considered to be in close by locations to or samelocation as the mobile device 101. In some embodiments, the mobiledevices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ that are found to be proximate to thefirst mobile device 101 may also be from the first mobile device 101'simplicit and/or explicit groups.

In one embodiment, the server 307 forms a subgroup of mobile devicesthat includes the mobile devices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ that providedproximity information identifying the first mobile device 101 are beingwithin the proximity sensitivity radiuses of the mobile devices,respectively. In some embodiments, the subgroup may also include thefirst mobile device 101. Using the subgroup, the server 307 may thenrefine the fixed location of the first mobile device 101 to generate arefined location of the first mobile device 101. In one embodiment, asshown in FIG. 4, the refining of the fixed location of first mobiledevice 101 includes identifying an intersection 410 of the proximitysensor sensitivity of each of the mobile devices 101, 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and302 ₆ that in the subgroup. Accordingly, it is determined that in orderfor the first device 101 to be identified as proximate to devices in thesubgroup, the location of the first device 101 is location within theintersection 410. Thus, the server 307 is able to obtain a refinedlocation (e.g., within intersection 410) for the first mobile device101. More specifically, rather than being based on only the firstdevice's 101 accuracy limit 211, the server 307 is able to refine thelocation of the first device 101 within an accuracy limit 411 andeliminate the ring area of a distance 413 around the accuracy limit 411as a potential location for the first mobile device 101. The new errorradius 407 now associated with the first mobile device 101 is muchsmaller than the first mobile device 101's proximity sensitivity radius406.

In one embodiment, in order to further refine the fixed location of thefirst device 101, the server 307 may determine if a database 305 in FIG.3 includes a location that is associated with the first mobile device101 and that is within the intersection 410 or within a predetermineddistance from the intersection 410. Alternatively, rather than beingseparate from the server 307, the database being checked for a locationthat is associated with the first mobile device 101 may also be adatabase 630 (FIG. 6) that is included in the server 307. Location dataassociated with each of the mobile devices in the system 300 may becollected by the server 307 which stores the data in a database memory305/630. Referring back to FIG. 4, the location associated with thefirst device 101 may include at least one of: (i) an explicit grouplocation that is associated with an explicit group that includes thefirst mobile device 101, (ii) an implicit group location that isassociated with an implicit group that includes the first mobile device101, and (iii) a historic location that is associated with the firstmobile device 101, wherein the historic location is a locationpreviously frequented by the first mobile device 101.

The explicit group location and the implicit group location mayrespectively be locations where members of the explicit and implicitgroups congregate such as clubs, schools, colleges, places of worship,sport facilities etc. As shown in FIG. 4, the subgroup 101, 301 ₆, 302₅, 302 ₆ may include registered members from both explicit and implicitmembers that are proximate to mobile device 101. Though the subgroup inFIG. 4 is shown to include different mobile users, it is understood thatthe subgroup may be formed of multiple mobile devices belonging to asingle user (e.g., tablet computers, mobile phones, smart watches etc.)in conjunction with other mobile devices identified by the proximitysensors of the mobile devices. Moreover, the historic location may be,for instance, a club, a school, a library or a sports facility, that waspreviously frequented by the mobile device 101. Further, the explicitgroup that includes first mobile device 101 may be, for example, asoccer team that organizes their games using social media. This explicitgroup may play their games at a specific soccer field. Accordingly, thelocation of that field may be an example of an explicit group location.The implicit group may be all sports teams that organize on a givensocial media site. Accordingly, the implicit group location may includethe soccer fields that are frequented by any of mobile devices includedin these sports teams.

In this embodiment, if the database 305/630 includes the location thatis associated with the first device 101 and that is within theintersection 410 or within the predetermined distance from theintersection 410, the server 307 sets the location associated with thefirst device as the refined location of the first mobile. For instance,referring back to FIG. 2, if multiple buildings 203 ₁ and 203 _(j) arefound to be within the intersection 410 or within the predetermineddistance from the intersection 410, the server 307 may determine whetherthere is a location associated with the first mobile device 101 that islocated within the intersection 410 or within the predetermined distancefrom the intersection 410. If, for example, the building 203 ₁ isdetermined to be a gymnasium that the first mobile device 101 haspreviously frequented, the server 307 may set the building 203 ₁ as therefined location for first mobile device 101 and may send a signal tothe display device 108 to display the refined location of the mobiledevice 101. In this embodiment, the server 307 may also update thedatabase 305/630 to associate the refined location of the first mobiledevice 101 with the first mobile device 101. In some embodiments, theserver 307 may update the database 305/630 to associate the refinedlocation with each of the mobile devices 101, 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ inthe subgroup of mobile devices.

In another embodiment, the server 307 may refine the location of themobile device 101 by triangulating based on the location data from eachof the mobile devices 101, 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ that in the subgroupto obtain a refined location of the first mobile device 101.

Referring to FIG. 6, which illustrates exemplary components of a server307 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, the server 307may include a processor 610, memory storage 620, and a communicationinterface 640.

The communication interface 640 is be a network communication interfacethat may include a wired network interface such as an IEEE 802.3Ethernet interface as well as a wireless interface such as an IEEE802.11 WiFi interface. Data may also be received from any one of avariety of different wireless communications networks and in accordancewith any one of several different protocols. These include: a cellularmobile phone network (e.g. a Global System for Mobile communications,GSM, network), including current 2G, 3G, 4G, and LTE networks; and anIEEE 802.11 network (WiFi or Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN). In oneembodiment, the communication interface 640 may receive location dataand proximity information from each of the mobile devices, respectively.The location data received from a mobile device 101 may include thelocation 210, which is the fixed location of the mobile device 101. Theproximity information received from the mobile device 101 may include anidentification of mobile devices proximate in location to the mobiledevice 101. For instance, the mobile device 101 may provide theidentification of mobile devices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆ that are withina proximity sensitivity radius 406 of the mobile device 101. Thecommunication interface 640 may also transmit a refined location of themobile devices received from a processor 610 to a display device 108.

The processor 610 that is coupled to the communication interface 640 mayinclude a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor,or a central processing unit, and other needed integrated circuits suchas glue logic. The term “processor” may refer to a device having two ormore processing units or elements, e.g. a CPU with multiple processingcores. The processor 640 may be used to control the operations of thecommunication interface 640. For example, the processor 640 may becoupled to the communication interface 640 and executes software tocontrol the wireless network communications functionality of the server307 (e.g. communicating with a network 106 to transmit and receive datato other components of system 300 (e.g., mobile devices) via thecommunication interface 640). In some cases, a particular function maybe implemented as two or more pieces of software that are being executedby different hardware units of a processor.

In one embodiment, the processor 610 is also coupled to the memorystorage 620 that may include one or more different types of storage suchas hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory, and volatile memory suchas dynamic random access memory. The memory storage 620 may also includea database 630 that stores location data associated with the pluralityof mobile devices included in system 300. The database 630 may alsostore membership data in explicit or implicit groups, member or mobiledevice characteristics, location identification, other location relatedinformation, historical subgroup member data and location based subgroupdata. The memory device 620 may also store instructions (e.g. software;firmware) which may be executed by the processor 610. In one embodiment,when the instructions stored in memory device 620 are executed by theprocessor 610, the processor 610 performs methods for increasingaccuracy of a location determination of mobile devices within alocation-based subgroup. In some embodiments, the processor 610 mayreceive the location data and the proximity information from thecommunication interface, form a subgroup of mobile devices based on theproximity information from each of the plurality of mobile devices, andrefine the fixed location of the first mobile device to generate arefined location of the first mobile device 101. The processor 610 mayalso control the functions of the communication interface 640 bysignaling to the communication interface 640 to request from each of themobile devices in the system 300 their location data and proximityinformation and by signaling to the communication interface 640 totransmit the refined location of the first device 101 to the displaydevice 108 to be displayed. The methods for increasing accuracy of alocation determination of mobile devices within a location-basedsubgroup are discussed in further detail below.

In addition, various other peripheral units (not shown) may be connectedto the server 307 to form a computer platform, such as but not limitedto keyboards, mouse, additional data storage units, printing unitsand/or display units. The processor 610, memory storage 620, andcommunication interface 640 communicate to input devices and outputdevices via one or more communication links such as a bus. Thecommunication links may also be other wired or wireless communicationlinks. Though in FIG. 3, a single server 307 is shown, it is understoodthat the server 307 may be a virtual machine, with all the abovecapabilities, distributed over multiple servers or the cloud computing.

The following embodiments of the invention may be described as aprocess, which is usually depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, astructure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describethe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when itsoperations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, aprocedure, etc.

FIG. 5A illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for increasingaccuracy of a location determination of mobile devices within alocation-based subgroup according to an embodiment of the invention. Themethod 500 starts at Block 501 with the server 307 receiving locationdata and proximity information from each of a plurality of mobiledevices, respectively. The location data received from a first mobiledevice 101 included in the mobile devices includes a fixed location ofthe first mobile device 101. The proximity information received from thefirst mobile device 101 includes an identification of mobile devicesthat are within a proximity sensitivity 406 radius of the first mobiledevice 101. At Block 502, the server 307 may form a subgroup of mobiledevices based on the proximity information from each of the plurality ofmobile devices. The subgroup may include the first mobile device and themobile devices that have provided proximity information that identifiesthe first mobile device are being within the proximity sensitivityradiuses of the mobile devices, respectively. For instance, referring toFIG. 4, the proximity information from mobile device 301 ₆ includes anidentification of first mobile device 101 as being within mobile device301 ₆'s proximity sensitivity radius that creates the sensor accuracylimit (or area) 402. Similarly, proximity information from mobile device302 ₅ includes an identification of first mobile device 101 as beingwithin the mobile device 302 ₅'s proximity sensitivity radius thatcreates the sensor accuracy limit (or area) 403 and proximityinformation from mobile device 302 ₆ includes an identification of firstmobile device 101 as being within the mobile device 302 ₆'s proximitysensitivity radius that creates the sensor accuracy limit (or area) 404.Accordingly, the subgroup being formed in FIG. 4 may include firstmobile device 101 and mobile devices 301 ₆, 302 ₅, and 302 ₆. At Block503, the server 307 may refine the fixed location of the first mobiledevice 101 to generate a refined location of the first mobile device101. At Block 504, the server 507 may transmit the refined location ofthe first mobile device to a display device 108 to be displayed on adisplay device 108.

FIG. 5B illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for refining thelocation of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the invention.In order to refine the location of the first mobile device 101 at Block503 of FIG. 5A, the server 307 may identify an intersection 410 of theproximity sensor sensitivity of each of the mobile devices 101, 301 ₆,302 ₅, and 302 ₆ that in the subgroup at Block 510. At Block 511, theserver 307 may determine if a database 305/630 includes a locationassociated with the first mobile device 101 that is within theintersection 410 or within a predetermined distance from theintersection 410 and at Block 512, if the database 305/630 includes thelocation associated with the first device 101 that is within theintersection 410 or within the predetermined distance from theintersection 410, the server 307 may set the location associated withthe first device 101 as the refined location of the first mobile device101. In one embodiment, the location associated with the first device101 that is stored in the database 305/630 may include historic data onthe first device 101's previously frequented locations. Accordingly, ifthe first device 101's previously frequented location falls within theintersection 410, the server 307 may set the previously frequentedlocation as the refined location of the first mobile device.

FIG. 5C illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for refining thelocation of a mobile device according to another embodiment of theinvention. In this embodiment, in order to refine the location of thefirst mobile device 101 at Block 503 of FIG. 5A, the server 307 maytriangulate based on the location data from each of the mobile devicesthat in the subgroup to obtain a refined location of the first mobiledevice 101 (Block 520).

An embodiment of the invention may be a machine-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions which program a processor to perform some orall of the operations described above. A machine-readable medium mayinclude any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a formreadable by a machine (e.g., a computer), such as Compact Disc Read-OnlyMemory (CD-ROMs), Read-Only Memory (ROMs), Random Access Memory (RAM),and Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM). In otherembodiments, some of these operations might be performed by specifichardware components that contain hardwired logic. Those operations mightalternatively be performed by any combination of programmable computercomponents and fixed hardware circuit components.

While the invention has been described in terms of several embodiments,those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention isnot limited to the embodiments described, but can be practiced withmodification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative insteadof limiting. There are numerous other variations to different aspects ofthe invention described above, which in the interest of conciseness havenot been provided in detail. Accordingly, other embodiments are withinthe scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of increasing accuracy of a locationdetermination of mobile devices within a location-based subgroupcomprising: receiving, by a processor, location data and proximityinformation from each of a plurality of mobile devices, respectively,wherein the location data received from a first mobile device includes afixed location of the first mobile device and the proximity informationreceived from the first mobile device includes an identification ofmobile devices that are within a proximity sensor accuracy limit of thefirst mobile device, wherein the proximity sensor accuracy limit is anarea defined by a proximity sensor having a proximity sensitivity radiusincluded in the first mobile device, wherein the plurality of mobiledevices includes the first mobile device; selecting at least one mobiledevice included in the plurality of mobile devices that has providedproximity information that identifies the first mobile device as beingwithin the proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selected at least onemobile device; and refining, by the processor, the fixed location of thefirst mobile device to generate a refined location of the first mobiledevice, wherein refining the fixed location includes identifying anintersection of the proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selected atleast one mobile device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the refiningthe fixed location of the first mobile device further comprises:determining by the processor, if a database includes a locationassociated with the first mobile device that is within the intersectionor within a predetermined distance from the intersection; and if thedatabase includes the location associated with the first device that iswithin the intersection or within the predetermined distance from theintersection, setting the location associated with the first device asthe refined location of the first mobile.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the location associated with the first device includes at leastone of (i) an explicit group location that is associated with anexplicit group that includes the first mobile device, (ii) an implicitgroup location that is associated with an implicit group that includesthe first mobile device, and (iii) a historic location that isassociated with the first mobile device, wherein the historic locationis a location previously frequented by the first mobile device.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the refining, by the processor, the locationof the first mobile device further comprises: triangulating based on thelocation data from the selected at least one mobile device to obtain therefined location of the first mobile device.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising updating a database to associate the refined locationof the first mobile device with the first mobile device.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the refined location of thefirst mobile device to a display device to be displayed on a displaydevice.
 7. An apparatus for increasing accuracy of a locationdetermination of mobile devices within a location-based subgroupcomprising: a processor; a communication interface to: receive alocation data and proximity information from each of a plurality ofmobile devices, respectively, wherein the location data received from afirst mobile device includes a fixed location of the first mobile deviceand the proximity information received from the first mobile deviceincludes an identification of mobile devices that are within a proximitysensor accuracy limit of the first mobile device, wherein the proximitysensor accuracy limit is an area defined by a proximity sensor having aproximity sensitivity radius included in the first mobile device,wherein the plurality of mobile devices includes the first mobiledevice; and a memory storage storing instructions that, when executed bythe processor, causes the processor to: receive the location data andthe proximity information from the communication interface, selecting atleast one mobile device included in the plurality of mobile devices thathas provided proximity information that identifies the first mobiledevice as being within the proximity sensor accuracy limit of theselected at least one mobile device, and refine the fixed location ofthe first mobile device to generate a refined location of the firstmobile device, wherein refining the fixed location includes identifyingan intersection of the proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selectedat least one mobile device.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 furthercomprising: a database storing data associated with a plurality ofmobile devices, wherein, when the processor executes the instructionsstored in memory, the processor refines the fixed location of the firstmobile device by: determining if the database includes a locationassociated with the first mobile device that is within the intersectionor within a predetermined distance from the intersection, and if thedatabase includes the location associated with the first device that iswithin the intersection or within the predetermined distance from theintersection, setting the location associated with the first device asthe refined location of the first mobile.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the location associated with the first device includes at leastone of (i) an explicit group location that is associated with anexplicit group that includes the first mobile device, (ii) an implicitgroup location that is associated with an implicit group that includesthe first mobile device, and (iii) a historic location that isassociated with the first mobile device, wherein the historic locationis a location previously frequented by the first mobile device.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein, when the processor executes theinstructions stored in memory, the processor refines the fixed locationof the first mobile device by: triangulating based on the location datafrom the selected at least one mobile device to obtain the refinedlocation of the first mobile device.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein when the processor executes the instructions stored in memory,the processor further: update a database to associate the refinedlocation of the first mobile device with the first mobile device. 12.The apparatus of claim 7, when the processor executes the instructionsstored in memory, the processor further: signals to the communicationinterface to transmit the refined location of the mobile device to adisplay device.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, causesthe processor to perform a method of increasing accuracy of a locationdetermination of mobile devices within a location-based subgroupcomprising: receiving location data and proximity information from eachof a plurality of mobile devices, respectively, wherein the locationdata received from a first mobile device includes a fixed location ofthe first mobile device and the proximity information received from thefirst mobile device includes an identification of mobile devices thatare within a proximity sensor accuracy limit of the first mobile device,wherein the proximity sensor accuracy limit is an area defined by aproximity sensor having a proximity sensitivity radius included in thefirst mobile device, wherein the plurality of mobile devices includesthe first mobile device; selecting at least one mobile device includedin the plurality of mobile devices that has provided proximityinformation that identifies the first mobile device as being within theproximity sensor accuracy limit of the selected at least one mobiledevice; and refining the fixed location of the first mobile device togenerate a refined location of the first mobile device, wherein refiningthe fixed location includes identifying an intersection of the proximitysensor accuracy limit of the selected at least one mobile device. 14.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein therefining the fixed location of the first mobile device furthercomprises: determining by the processor, if a database includes alocation associated with the first mobile device that is within theintersection or within a predetermined distance from the intersection;and if the database includes the location associated with the firstdevice that is within the intersection or within the predetermineddistance from the intersection, setting the location associated with thefirst device as the refined location of the first mobile.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein thelocation associated with the first device includes at least one of (i)an explicit group location that is associated with an explicit groupthat includes the first mobile device, (ii) an implicit group locationthat is associated with an implicit group that includes the first mobiledevice, and (iii) a historic location that is associated with the firstmobile device, wherein the historic location is a location previouslyfrequented by the first mobile device.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the refining, by theprocessor, the location of the first mobile device further comprises:triangulating based on the location data from the selected at least onemobile device to obtain the refined location of the first mobile device.17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, furthercomprising updating a database to associate the refined location of thefirst mobile device with the first mobile device.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising: transmittingthe refined location of the first mobile device to a display device tobe displayed on a display device.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein receiving location dataand proximity information from each of the plurality of mobile devices,respectively, includes receiving location data and proximity data from asecond mobile device, wherein the plurality of mobile devices includesthe second mobile device, wherein the second mobile device is differentfrom the first mobile device, wherein the location data received fromthe second mobile device includes a fixed location of the second mobiledevice and the proximity information received from the second mobiledevice includes an identification of mobile devices that are within aproximity sensor accuracy limit of the second mobile device, wherein theproximity sensor accuracy limit of the second mobile device is an areadefined by a proximity sensor having a proximity sensitivity radiusincluded in the second mobile device.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 19, further comprising: selecting atleast one mobile device included in the plurality of mobile devices thathas provided proximity information that identifies the second mobiledevice as being within the proximity sensor accuracy limit of theselected at least one mobile device; and refining the fixed location ofthe second mobile device to generate a refined location of the secondmobile device, wherein refining the fixed location includes identifyingan intersection of the proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selectedat least one mobile device that has provided proximity information thatidentifies the second mobile device as being within the proximity sensoraccuracy limit of the selected at least one mobile device.
 21. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising:for each of the mobile devices, choosing a mobile device included in theplurality of mobile for location refining, selecting at least one mobiledevice included in the plurality of mobile devices that has providedproximity information that identifies the chosen mobile device as beingwithin the proximity sensor accuracy limit of the selected at least onemobile device, and refining a fixed location of the chosen mobile deviceto generate a refined location of the chosen mobile device.